The Prisoner Of Harmony
by General Kenobi SIYE
Summary: Part One in my original Harmonious vision of the Harry Potter universe. Elements of which inspired Myrddin Emrys Returns. Rated M just in case there are any bed wetters out there. On Hiatus!
1. Of Her

Disclaimer and Opening Notes: I don't own Harry Potter, the universe of Harry Potter or any of the characters. JK Rowling does. You should all know what is taken directly from the books and movies by now unless you're dense, so I don't want to hear any BS about stealing or plagiarism. Referencing every little damn thing makes the story practically unreadable. So the imaginary PhDs in Literature out there can shut it. If you don't like it, go find something else to read. I got enough of that crap with Myrddin Emrys Returns so I'll not tolerate it here. I WILL rip you a new one.** Now for those who wish to review and add your CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, I welcome you to review all you want. I enjoy hearing about things I can do to improve my work, or correct a spelling/grammatical error you might find that I missed, just not in a way that's extremely rude for no other reason than to make yourself feel better cause you suck at life.** I'm playing in JKR's sandbox and I am NOT, repeat, NOT making any money off of this. I'm doing it for fun and expanding on her brilliant work ( HBP and DH not withstanding).

The idea for Myrddin was originally an H/Hr concept so this story will have many elements you may have read in that M.E.R. like the Yule Ball. That was actually the very first scene in M.E.R. I envisioned and it was with Hermione, not Daphne. Harry will be more powerful than canon but not as powerful as Myrddin. More along the lines of Dumbledore's potential, but since he is young, he's not reached it yet and won't until he's got experience. I could get away with it in M.E.R. because he was effing Merlin re-incarnate for F's sake. You would think that being able to cast a Patronus at 13 would have put him in the same league as a 13 year old Albus Dumbledore, so that's what I'm going by. Enjoy!

Chapter One: The Prisoner of Durzkaban

Harry Potter sat at his desk staring out the window in the smallest bedroom of Number 4 Privet Drive. It was 11:57pm on a warm and muggy Friday night, July 30th 1993. In but a few minutes he would turn 13 years of age. He would finally be a teenager and one year closer to getting the hell away from the Dursleys. In his hand was the last letter he had received from his best friend Hermione. He enjoyed her letters far more than anything Ron ever sent, as the boy was never much of a letter writer anyway.

It was a simple, but long missive about her travels through southern France with her parents. While it contained detailed descriptions of what she'd seen so far, it was not in her usual style of babbling on about the history of one place or another. She had rally seemed to ease off that over the course of the summer. Harry enjoyed sitting back and trying to picture the French countryside and the châteaux dotting the map. He hoped to be able to visit those places one day.

He was distracted from his musings by the beep of his wrist watch that told him it was now Midnight, and he was officially a teenager.

"Happy Birthday to me." he said to himself.

He looked out toward the night sky, he rested his chin on the open palm of his right hand and was instantly lost in another day dream. He idly spied a shape moving across the face of the moon. Not being "all there" at the moment, he thought nothing of it, until he noticed the shape was getting larger and larger.

His eyes grew wide as he started to think of what it might be that seemed to be heading for his open window. Rising quickly from his desk, he reached out to shut the open pane when he heard a familiar chirping whistle. He knew that sound anywhere. He squinted his eyes at the form to try and a better look. The form seemed to dip below the roofs of Privet Drive and it wasn't until it passed a street lamp that he was able to see that it was Hedwig and a second owl carrying a third owl between them. He hadn't seen Hedwig for nearly five days. At first he'd been worried as he hadn't sent her back to Hermione with a letter but five days was usually the time it took her to fly to and from the southern French coast.

He saw that Hedwig and the unknown brown owl were fighting for altitude to reach his window. He stumbled back onto his bed as Hedwig gave a cry as if she were shouting at him to get the hell out of the way. The two haggard owls flew in through the window where they promptly dropped the third (which Harry recognized as Errol) onto his desk. Both birds seemed to be panting as they too landed on his desk with a sigh of relief.

"Hey girl." Harry cooed his familiar while tenderly scratching her head as he noticed Hedwig was carrying a large parcel and a letter with Hermione's neat script on it. " I missed you this past week. Did Hermione send me something?"

Hedwig looked up at him as if to say "No shit Sherlock." as Harry untied the large box from her leg. As soon as she was relived of her burden (other than Errol) she flew up to her cage and took a long drink from her water dish. Harry then turned to the brown owl and relived it of it's parcel as well, before telling it to stay for a moment as he got some water from the tap in the loo. The bird drank deeply before giving Harry a grateful hoot and taking off through his window and back out into the night. Looking at the parcel more closely, he noticed the attached letter had Hagrid's messing scrawl on it.

He collected the parcel Errol carried before taking the beleaguered bird over to Hedwig's cage for a rest. She looked balefully at Errol before she settled herself on Harry's dresser and fell asleep.

Opening the package from the Weasley's first, he found Ron's letter, talking about their trip to Egypt as well as a newspaper clipping of the family. Ron had sent him a pocket sneak-o-scope. It was suppose to detect untrustworthy people. Bill thought it was defective as it kept going off during dinner. He had no idea the twins had slipped him a prototype potion for their Canary-Cream idea.

The next gift he opened was from Hagrid. What followed was several minutes of the book "The Monster Book of Monsters" trying to eat his face and or feet. In the end, Harry had ended up baiting the book with one of his trainers before jumping on top of the book and securing it with one of Uncle Vernon's discarded belts. He wrote a quick response to Hagrid, asking him how the hell he was suppose to keep the book from making a meal out of him, to be sent once Hedwig had rested up.

Saving Hermione's for last, he opened her letter and read.

_Dear Harry,_

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Your owl is such a clever girl. She turned up out of no where. I had been hoping she would do so, as I don't have my own owl and had no way of sending you your birthday gift. I hope you like it. It took me ages to finally decide on what to get you._

_Unfortunately my parents have been having such a good time that they've decided we're staying longer than planned. I shudder to think what they might be up to now that they have been getting me my own hotel room across the hall instead of the three of us together. _

Harry had to snicker at this.

_It doesn't seem like our plans to have you visit are going to pan out this summer. Maybe next summer. I look forward to seeing you sometime soon. Hopefully in Diagon Alley like last year. Have a great birthday, (or as good as it can be with your relatives)._

_Missing you,_

_Hermione._

Harry was disappointed that he would likely not be staying with Hermione this summer. The Weasleys were still in Egypt so it seemed like he was stuck in (as the twins called it) Durzkaban for the rest of the summer. With a sigh, he opened Hermione's gift to him and gasped out loud when he saw that she had sent him a broom stick servicing kit for his Nimbus.

"Wow Hermione." he breathed.

He noticed another box below it and a note from Hermione telling him it was a box of various food stuffs along with a small birthday cake. She had also gotten the witch who owned the shop to cast preservation charms on it to keep it all fresh until taken out of the box. There was enough to last him at least a week.

He sat there for several moments with a goofy smile on his face. Thinking about Hermione, his mind started wandering to places the mind of a 13 year old boy often wanders before he shook his head to clear those thoughts he felt he should _not_ be having about his bushy haired friend. It was then he noticed that Hedwig seemed to be chucking amusedly to herself. Wondering why she was so amused, he felt a twitch in his groin area. Looking down, he was horrified at what he saw. He quickly grabbed the boom stick servicing kit and covered his crotch, trying to hide his shame from his faithful owl. His face was burning red for several minutes after, and he fell back to sleep, facing away from Hedwig.

In the morning, he was back to smiling to himself after he had polished his broom stick before going down to cook breakfast for his relatives. Vernon glared at him, as if it were an affront for him to be smiling. Petunia sniffed haughtily before she took her seat. Harry's good mood evaporated in an instant when Vernon said he was off to pick up Aunt Marge from the train station. It began raining heavily soon after.

X x x x x x x x

"Get the door!" spat Petunia about an hour later.

Feeling a knot in his stomach, he pulled open the front door. On the threshold stood Aunt Marge. The bitch was almost exactly like Uncle Vernon, only female. As she entered the house she looked upon Harry with distain. In one hand she held a suit-case, and tucked under the other, was her ill-tempered Bulldog.

She immediately asked for her "Dudders".

The fat pig was sitting in front of the telly, stuffing his gob as usual. When Mage straightened up she once again caught Harry in her sights.

"Oh you're still here are you?" she said with a sneer.

"Yes," said Harry as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was, seeing as he was standing right there. Idiot woman.

"Don't say 'Yes!' me in that ungrateful tone boy!" Marge said with malice. "You're lucky your Uncle is so generous, in letting you stay here."

Turning to Vernon she continued, "He'd have been straight to the orphanage if he'd have been left on my doorstep."

"_The bitch." _He thought.

The days seemed to drag on. Aunt Marge, like his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, seemed to take great glee in constantly criticizing him at ever opportunity. The only thing that had gotten him through was re-reading Hermione's letters as well as two new ones she had sent since his birthday. It had gotten him this far, however, ten days after Marge's arrival, Harry's patience finally snapped.

It was dinner time, and Harry was thinking longingly about life at Number Four with out the stupid twat.

On that night they had just finished dinner, and Harry was beginning the clean up. Marge'd had a bit to drink after the meal was done. Harry had heard 'round from the twins that there were three kinds of drinkers; the 'I love all you guys" drunk, the quiet drunk, and the arsehole drunk. Marge was an arsehole.

She had been going on and on all through out dinner about what made Harry such an unsatisfactory person, and was beginning to slur her words.

Harry rolled his eyes as he continued cleaning.

"Where did you say the boy went to school again Vernon?" said Marge.

"St. Brutus'," said Vernon.

"Hmm, you boy," Marge began, looking at Harry. "Do they use a cane at St. Brutus'?"

Vernon looked at him pleadingly.

"Oh! Oh yeah," said Harry. "I've been beaten loads of times, mm-hmm." he finished with a nod of his head.

Marge narrowed her eyes.

"I don't like your tone runt." she said, "If you speak of your beatings in such a casual way, they clearly aren't hitting you hard enough."

"You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy turned out Vernon," she said, spilling a bit of Brandy on her blouse. "If there is something rotten inside, there isn't anything you can do about it. It's all about blood, bad blood. What it is the boy's father did for a living?"

"Oh he didn't," Petunia said quickly, "He was unemployed."

"And a drunk too no doubt." Marge scoffed.

His temper finally getting to him, Harry said, "That's a lie!" the irony of the comment was not lost on him.

"What did you say?"

"My dad wasn't a drunk!" said Harry with heat trying desperately to reign in his temper.

Suddenly the brandy glass Marge had been holding in her fat digits shattered, startling Petunia and Vernon.

"Don't worry, don't fuss Petunia," said Marge with a chuckle, "I've got a very firm grip!"

Turning to Harry, "You boy, clean it up," she said with a snap of her fingers.

Grudgingly, Harry grabbed a hand towel and cleaned up the broken glass and spilled alcohol.

"Actually, it's nothing to do with the father," she opened her fat mouth again, "It's all got to do with the mother."

Looking over at Harry she continued, "You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, then there's something wrong with the pup."

At this, Harry finally lost it. "Shut up! Shut up!" he shouted, "I'm glad I'm not from your stock, or I'd have a fat an arse as you, you bitch!"

The lights began flickering, and a breeze began blowing from an unknown source, as Harry's magic flared.

"Right! Now see here boy-" she never finished the thought, because at that moment, she began to swell like a balloon.

"MARGE!" yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia as Aunt Marge's body began to rise out of her chair and up to the ceiling.

Harry couldn't believe his eyes. 'I didn't think she could get any more round," he thought.

As Marge began drifting out of the patio door, Vernon trying desperately to bring her back down, while Ripper bit his ankle, Harry tore from the dining room.

Escape! He had to escape. He was surely going to be expelled for using magic once again. Quickly throwing open his trunk, he hastily began throwing all of his possessions in hap-hazardly. Lifting up the loose floorboard in his room, he grabbed his pillow case full of his books and birthday presents. Throwing them into his trunk, he slammed the lid closed and seized Hedwig's cage. Luckily, his owl was likely on her way back from France. He was confident she could find him, where ever he might end up.

Dashing back downstairs he was accosted by a purple faced Vernon.

"YOU BRING HER BACK! YOU BRING HER BACK NOW, AND YOU PUT HER RIGHT!" he bellowed.

'No! She deserved it!" Harry said, breathing very fast, as if he'd just run a mile. "The bitch deserved what she got."

Vernon lunged, only to have Harry's wand pointed straight at his face. Vernon immediately cowered back.

"You keep away form me!" Harry shouted.

"You're not allowed to use magic outside of school!" said Vernon.

"Yeah? Try me!" challenged Harry.

"They won't let you back no boy! You've nowhere to go."

"I don't care! Any where's better than here!" and with that Harry Potter marched out onto the street.

X x x x x x x x x x

A/N: Read and review.


	2. Diagon Alley, Hermione, and Dementors

Disclaimer: Same as every other one out there. If you don't know, then you probably need to have your water checked for lead as you are obviously an imbecile.

Chapter Two: Diagon Alley, Hermione, and Dementors.

Harry dragged his trunk behind him as far as Magnolia Crescent before his anger had waned enough for him to think straight.

"You've gone and Bollixed it now," Harry said to himself as he sat on the curb of a darkened street in front of a playground he frequented in his free time. It was a rather ominous setting in the dark. Especially since it had only recently stopped raining, leaving the equipment drenched. The last remnants of the storm were drifting off into the horizon as a breeze swept through, causing swings to move seemingly of their own accord. Turning away, he thought about his current situation.

Not only was he likely going to be in trouble with the Ministry, but he had run off on his own. And so he sat, alone on a deserted street, in the middle of Little Winging. His thoughts turned to what he was going to do now that he had made a break for it. Thinking about his options, his mind turned to the girl he'd thought about often since she'd been petrified late last spring.

"Oh no…" he moaned. "She is not going to be happy about this at all."

But he knew that above all else, he now he had to figure out what to do. Should he just get to the Leaky Cauldron, sneak into Diagon Alley, and withdraw a large sum of gold and go on the lam? He thought about trying to find Hermione in France, but escaping to another country? He had no idea where to even start.

Suddenly he felt a presence directly in front of him, making the hair on the back of his neck stand. Standing up quickly, drawing his wand, he looked into the bushes across the lane. While he couldn't see anything, he was certain there was somebody there. He felt as though he were being watched. His pupils dilated as his body prepared itself for either a fight, or running for his life.

He saw a dark shape slowly make it's way out of the bushes to stand on the open sidewalk, opposite Harry. It was a very large black dog. Fear passed through Harry momentarily, but soon it was replaced with curiosity as he realized the dog wasn't going to hurt him. He still kept his wand in his hand, just in case.

He didn't feel any evil temperament that he felt from his Aunt Marge's mutt Ripper, but something did feel off about the animal.

_"Are there such things as magical dogs?' _he thought to himself.

A soft whine brought him out of his musings. Feeling suddenly sorry for the animal; for it looked terribly underfed, he opened his trunk and brought out a mincemeat pie that Mrs. Weasley had sent him.

The dog's interest seemed to peak. It looked upon Harry in curiosity, licking it's canine lips, as Harry softly beckoned for him to come closer.

"Come on," said Harry. "Come on, I'm not going to hurt you."

Slowly, the dog made it's way across the street, as Harry held out the pie. The dog's mouth seemed to water as it sniffed the pie on Harry's hand.

"Go ahead boy." Harry said encouragingly. "It's alright. I reckon you're pretty hungry."

Quickly snatching the pie from Harry's hand, the large black dog made short work of it, seemingly inhaling the meal. When it looked up again, Harry had another in his hand. When it was offered to him, he devoured the delicious pastry as well.

When he was done, the dog drew closer to Harry and licked his hand in thanks.

Sitting down, Harry looked at the dog with a smile, as his black furred companion, sat back on it's haunches, staring at him intently. Slowly Harry reached out a hand, palm up to show the dog he meant no harm, until the dog sniffed, then licked it, which allowed Harry to begin petting the stray animal.

"Well boy," he began. "I seemed to have royally screwed myself over. I blew my Aunt Marge up like a balloon, and made a run for it."

Looking around Harry realized he hadn't received any owls from the Ministry telling him he'd been expelled. It gave him a little hope that all might not be lost.

Looking over at the large dog he said, "You don't - feel, like a normal dog. It's almost as if you were magical. I don't know of any magical dogs other than that great big Cerberus Hagrid is so fond of."

Standing up Harry looked down at his companion, he stretched his legs to restore blood flow. Luckily, they hadn't fallen sleep completely.

"Too bad I can't take you with me," he began, "but I've got to find a place to stay. My best friend-" he paused with a smile, "Well, I reckon she's going to be pretty irritated with me for wandering off on my own when there is a deranged killer on the loose."

Harry let out a chuckle.

"You better run along now," he said. "I've got to catch a bus."

The poor dog let out a pitiful whine.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry." he said sadly, "but I can't take you with me. I don't know if dogs are allowed at Hogwarts."

Another whine.

"Maybe I'll see you around next summer," said Harry. "If you're careful not to get caught."

"Well, I must be off." he said. "I'll see you around boy. Take care."

With that, raised his wand into the air to summon the Knight Bus as he'd heard from Ron in one of his few letters when Ron asked about Harry visiting when they returned from Egypt.

"Well, here goes nothing." he said as he drew his wand and lifter it in the air. He felt rather foolish for a moment until a loud bang startled him, and he fell back. Right on his arse.

"Great…" he muttered as a large triple-decker bus, in the most violent purple he'd ever seen. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled 'The Knight Bus".

As the bus came to a stop right in front, Harry could see the conductor, dressed in a purple uniform, casually leaning against the hand rail of the entryway. With out looking up he read from a piece of paper:

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, your Driver is Ern, and I will be your conductor for this evening."

As he finished, he folded up the script he'd been reading, and looked up. He had been momentarily confused until he looked down, and saw Harry on the ground.

"Wha'cha doin' down there?" asked Stan.

"I fell over." said Harry.

"Choo fell over for?" sniggered Stan.

"I didn't do it on purpose." said Harry, already annoyed.

"You flagged us down didn't yeh?" said Stan.

"Yes.."

"Well come on aboard then. Let's not wait for the grass to grow." Stan said while dragging Harry aboard.

Looking back down as he boarded, Harry saw that his black furred friend had gone. With a sigh, he heaved himself up the final step.

After paying his eleven Sickles for a ride to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry turned to see that there were no seats, but beds. It was his last thought before he was thrown face first into the nearest bed, as the Knight Bus took off at a "ludicrous speed" through the streets of Surrey, on it's way to The Leaky Cauldron, London.

With a loud bang, the Bus was gone, leaving the large black dog, watching from the bushes were he had previously been hiding.

X x x x x x x x

The next morning found Harry looking out of the window of his room at the Leaky Cauldron, which had a "spectacular" view of a Muggle service alley. He reflected on the events of the night before.

He'd blown up his Aunt; made a run for it, met a lovable, yet pitiful looking stray, and rode the Knight Bus as break neck speeds though greater London, yet again.

To his surprise, he was met, by the Minister of Magic, when he arrived at the old pub. Instead of having him arrested, he'd been told that his Aunt had been found, punctured, and had her memory 'Properly Modified'. Not only that, since it had been a case of accidental magic, he wasn't in any trouble.

The Minister seemed much more worried than anything else. When asked why, he simply said there was "a killer on the loose." When he had asked the bumbling Minister what it had to do with him, he evaded the question.

'There is something more going on here.' he thought to himself. 'I hate when people think they have to keep information from me.'

Letting out a deep breath, he looked over at the empty perch in his room. He was pleasantly surprised that Hedwig was in his room waiting for him. The bar keep 'Tom' had explained that she had arrived not five minutes before he had.

Harry had immediately began doting on his familiar, telling her how clever she was. He had missed her the four previous days he'd had to endure his Aunt Marge.

Early this morning he'd sent her off to Hermione, with a letter explaining everything that had happened, and where he was. He grimaced.

"She's not going to be very happy with me." he said to himself.

With one last look down a Muggle London, he turned and grabbed his birthday gift from Hagrid, The Monster Book of Monsters, and threw himself onto his bed to read. He had it secured in one of his Uncle's old belts. The night he received it, the stupid "book" tried to eat his face. He'd written back to Hagrid, thanking him for the gift, but also asking how on earth was he ever suppose to read the damn thing, if it was going to try to make a meal out of him every time.

Hagrid's response had been sheepish. He apologized for forgetting to explain how to open it. All he had to do was stroke the spine, and the book would become docile and fall open like a regular book. Why on earth anyone would charm a book to be so needlessly vicious, was beyond him.

X x x x x x x x x

Hedwig set a new record in Harry's mind when she returned from Southern France in three days instead of five. It was obvious his faithful owl had hightailed it without resting. Harry could see she was exhausted from the non-stop journey. Hermione's letter was not exactly what Harry's been expecting though. It was obvious to him that his beloved bookworm had written her response in a hurry.

Her normally neat script was messy and nearly illegible. She was very clearly agitated, as there were several ink blots that looked like she had pressed down with he quill with more pressure than normal. At least she wasn't very admonishing about his flight.

_Harry,_

_Running off on your own was a reckless thing to do. Especially with an escaped murderer on the loose. But I can understand why you had to escape. Up until you arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, the Ministry had never been very fair in it's dealings with you. I still cannot help but be angry with you for doing something so foolish, but I will admit, your cow of an aunt probably deserved what she got for the things she said, and the things she's done in the past. _

_My parents and I will be returning to England in the twenty-ninth and plan on making the trip to Diagon Alley the day before we leave for school. I hope to see you then. PLEASE, do NOT wander off on your own again. I will see you as soon as I can._

_All my love,_

_Hermione_

_P.S. Hedwig appeared to be in quite a hurry, and from what I gathered in your letter, she had to have made the trip in less than a day and a half. Make sure she rests up properly before you send her out again._

Harry sighed when he read the part where Hermione said she would be returning with her parents. It was still three bloody weeks away! Looking over at Hedwig, he could see his owl was already asleep on her perch. Sighing, he put Hermione's letter away and made is way down stairs for breakfast. Three weeks seemed to drag on. The only bright spots were the arrival of the Firebolt at Quality Quidditch Supplies, and the free ice cream Florean Fortescue's.

X x x x x x x x

The thirty-first found Harry in the Leaky Cauldron, eating breakfast anxiously as he eagerly anticipated Hermione's arrival. He'd gotten a letter from her on Sunday, two days before, letting him know she would be there today. The Weasleys had returned from Egypt the previous week but had yet to make an appearance. Mrs. Weasley did invite him to stay, but he politely refused, stating he had been ordered by the Minister to stay in the alley. Molly Weasley was irritated, but thankfully let the matter drop.

His plate had just been picked up, and his bill paid when he heard the door to Chairing Cross Road open. He looked up and saw Hermione standing there, looking around the large dining room with a worried expression on her face. He stood up to meet her and her eyes finally landed on him. She smiled brilliantly when she saw him and ran toward him. He opened his arms to meet her and was nearly bowled over by his best friend. Harry never even noticed her parents had been standing behind her.

"Oh Harry! It's so good to see you!" she gushed as she seemed to be trying her best to squeeze the air out of him for a long moment before she let him go…. Reluctantly.

"I've been so worried. How are you? Have you been eating well? What.."

"Hermione!" He cut her off before she could build a full head of steam. "I'm fine, as you can see. No need to worry anymore."

She looked sceptical but accepted his answer. They both heard a throat being cleared behind her. Looking up, Harry saw a tall man with short curly brown hair and brown eyes glowering at him slightly. Next to him, there was a very attractive woman of average height, with dirty blond hair and whiskey coloured eyes, smiling at them knowingly and a bit mischievously. Other than the hair colour, she looked like nothing less than an older version of Hermione. The woman didn't seem to even have wrinkles!

"Harry." Hermione began, somewhat nervously. "These are my parents. David and Jane Granger. Mum, Dad, this is my best friend Harry Potter."

"It's wonderful to finally meet you. We didn't get a chance to the last time we were here." Mrs. Granger said to Harry, shaking his hand. She stepped back to her spot next to her husband, who stood there glowering until she jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow, causing the man to jump.

"Yes." David said reluctantly as he stepped forward to sake Harry's hand with a bit more pressure than was considered polite, causing Harry to hold in a wince. "Pleasure to meet to Mr. Potter."

Jane rolled her eyes as Hermione looked slightly outraged at her father's behaviour. Neither she nor Harry had noticed that Hermione was still holding his hand. When Mr. Granger stepped back, Jane gave him a look that told him he was in trouble, and was set to get an ear full when they got home. Maybe even a night or two on the couch. David Granger suddenly looked sheepish.

The rest of the morning passed with little incident as the group began wandering from store to store gathering Hermione's school supplies. The Weasleys finally showed themselves just before lunch. Hermione's parents left for home a few minutes later, after giving their daughter permission to stay with the Weasleys at the Leakey Cauldron when they offered to make sure she got on the train to school on time the next morning. Hermione's mother quickly agreed to the offer as she was anxious to teach her husband a lesson in red hot fury and the icy cold shoulder for the next day or so.

Hermione's father was very reluctant in agreeing, as it would leave his daughter alone with this Potter kid, _and_ he wouldn't have Hermione at home to keep her mother's fury in check as they promised before she was born to never fight in front of or too loudly anywhere near her. Without his little girl there, Jane was free to yell at him as much and as loudly as she damn well pleased. He was not looking forward to going home. That Mr. Weasley seemed on the verge of letting his offer drop because of David Granger's reluctance, only put Hermione's father in more hot water with Jane.

It was a fiasco as usual, when Hermione bought what appeared to either be a very large cat, or a very small tiger. The over large feline immediately tried to eat Ron's rat, Scabbers. Ron and Hermione bickered all the way back to the Leakey Cauldron for a late lunch.

"I'm warning you Hermione. Keep that bloody beast of yours away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cosy." Ron said heatedly, as they sat down at a table for a late lunch.

"He's a cat Ronald. What do you expect? It's in his nature." Hermione responded in exacerbation.

"A cat?" said Ron incredulously. "Is that what they told you? Looks more like Pansy Parkinson with fur if you ask me!"

"That's rich coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush!" she responded.

Harry had to stifle a laugh into his drink. Hermione saw him, and smiled slightly. Fortunately, Ron hadn't noticed as he was too busy fussing with Scabbers.

"It's alright Crookshanks," Hermione cooed the rather large ginger cat. "You just ignore the mean little boy."

At that moment the rest of the Weasleys re-entered the pub.

"Harry!" Mr. Weasley called out. "How are you?" he asked nervously as the family joined the trio. Arthur Weasley obviously had something on is mind that he wanted to talk to him about.

"Fine, thanks," Harry said, as his lunch was served to him by a rather attractive middle-aged witch, who winked at him as she walked away. He noticed Hermione narrow her eyes at the older witch for a moment.

"So they still haven't caught Black then?" Harry asked when he noticed the news paper Mr. Weasley placed on the table when he sat down.

"No they haven't," he said gravely. "In fact, they've pulled many of us off out normal jobs to help find him."

"Would we get a reward for catching Black?" asked Ron. "it'd be good to get some more money-"

"Don't be ridiculous Ronald," said Mrs. Weasley as she as finally returned from the second hand wizarding clothes shop. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen year old wizard. It's the guards of Azkaban who'll bring him in."

Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry.

"Hello Harry dear," she said "it's so good to see you."

She then proceeded to nearly break his spine by hugging him. When she let go, and began fussing over his hair, Harry decided he like Hermione's hugs much better. At least she didn't try to paralyze him.

Percy, Harry learned, had been named Head Boy. He wasn't surprised. Percy did seem quite a stickler for the rules.

Ginny, it seemed, was even more embarrassed to be around him since he saved from the Chamber last year. She had gone very red when she muttered "hello" with out looking at him. It made him rather uncomfortable, and he'd stammered a greeting in return. Percy on the other hand, had been pompous in his greeting. It was as if they'd never met before.

"Hello Percy," Harry said trying not to laugh when he noticed Percy's Head Boy badge had been charmed to say "Gives Head to Boys". Harry snuck a look at the twins, whom had just stood up to make their way toward him, smiling widely and looking rather proud of themselves. Ginny kept giggling into her hand as she glanced at Percy.

"I hope you're well." said Percy in his usual pompous way.

"Very well thanks-"

"Harry!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you again, old boy-"

"Marvelous," said a monocle wearing George, shoving Fred out of the way and seizing Harry's hand . "Absolutely spiffing that you're here!"

"Right! Tut tut and cheerio!" finished Fred pretending to puff on a blue muggle plastic toy pipe. Harry nearly lost it as Fred blew bubbles of various colours from his pipe.

Percy scowled behind them.

Dinner was very enjoyable. Harry learned that the twins had tried to lock Percy up in a pyramid, much to Mrs. Weasley's displeasure. They claimed their ears had been tender ever since their mother had grabbed them and dragged them back to their rooms for a proper shouting. They told him that Percy's badge was also charmed so that every time Percy or their mother looked at it, it till looked normal. Percy had been rather confused by all the snickers he'd gotten through out the day. Harry couldn't wait to see Professor McGonagall's reaction.

Near the end of dinner, Mr. Weasley had taken Harry aside, and had explained to him how Sirius Black had likely escaped from prison to come after the one who defeated his master. He urged Harry to be careful, and to not go looking for Black. It left Harry feeling uneasy, as Mr. Weasley had implied that Black was out to murder him.

Xx x x x x x x x

The next day, after a mad dash for the train, as usual for the Weasley family, the trio wandered the length of the train searching for a compartment. They'd gone the entire length of the train, Hermione leading the way, before reaching the last compartment.

"Come on," said Hermione, "Everywhere else if full." leading them into the compartment, occupied only by a shabbily dressed man, whom appeared to be sleeping.

"Who's that?" Ron asked pointing at the sleeping man as he took his seat.

"R.J. Lupin." answered their resident bookworm as she took a seat next to Harry.

"You know everything." Ron said incredulously. "How is it she knows everything?" he finished looking from the sleeping Lupin to Harry.

"It's on his suitcase Ronald." she said with a sigh, pointing at the battered looking case in the overhead bin.

"Oh."

Harry looked across at the sleeping man. "Do you think he's really asleep?" he asked.

"Seems to be. Why?" responded Hermione looking at him, with what Harry thought to be the most beautiful worried frown he'd ever seen. He thought her look to be almost pouty, having previously believed no one could ever do so as he'd been on the receiving end of more than his fair share of frowns and ugly looks from his relatives.

Shaking his head of those thoughts, he got up to shut the compartment door as e said, "I need to tell you guys something."

X x x x x x x x x x

Hours later, as the train thundered down the tracks on it's way to Hogwarts the trio all found themselves in quiet contemplation. The weather quickly turned severe as the ploughed northward, rain beating on the compartment window, thunder rumbling in the distance.

They had tried to fill their time with lighter subjects, and even sweets, but thoughts inevitably returned to Sirius Black. Ron was busy thinking about the glory he would receive if he caught Black. Hermione was very worried. Not for herself, but for Harry. She cared for Harry deeply, and was afraid for his life. She had been since she had gotten the very issue of the Daily Prophet that announced his escape, and a brief history of why he was in Azkaban. She had looked into his case, thinking it to be interesting. Now, she almost wished she hadn't, as it became clear to her early on that Black had escaped to possibly get to Harry, the boy she fancied.

When she had thought back to the previous year, she tried to remember what had happened after she and Penelope looked around the corner of the corridor using a mirror. She couldn't remember much, but thinking back on the void in her memory, she could have swore that she actually heard Harry's voice talking to her. Most of what she thought she heard was lost on her, but she did think she could clearly remember his voice whispering, _"I miss you."_

It was that as well as their regular correspondence over the summer that had her falling deeper and deeper for her green eyed hero. She had always liked him. The memory of him leaving Ron and skipping the special celebratory feast to be with her when she woke up, and his doting on her afterward only served to deepen these feelings.

Harry was just hoping he could make it through another year with out being murdered.

_'Fuck my life.' _he thought miserably as he looked out the darkened window.

"They'll catch Black won't they?" said Hermione suddenly, startling Harry form his thoughts. "I mean everyone's looking for him."

"Sure," said Ron, "Only… No one's ever broken out of Azkaban before, and he's a murderous, raving, lunatic." he finished with a sheepish look at Harry. Hermione glared at Ron before looking worriedly at Harry.

"Thank Ron." said Harry sarcastically. "Makes me feel loads better."

Suddenly, with a great lurch forward that nearly threw him and Hermione off their bench had he not planted his feet caught her, the train began to slow.

"What's happening?" said Harry, as the sound of the screeching brakes caused him to wince slightly.

"I don't know," said Hermione. "We can't be there yet."

Finally, the train jerked to a stop.

"Maybe we've broken down?" said Ron stupidly.

"Honestly Ronald." said Hermione. "It's a magical train. It can't break down. They've obviously stopped deliberately for some reason."

The lights began to flicker for a few seconds, before every compartment on the train was dark.

Looking out the window Ron said, "Some one's out there. I think they're coming aboard."

The temperature began dropping rapidly. The windows frosted over, and each breath fogged. After several tense moments of waiting, a large cloaked dark figure was seen creeping slowly from the back of the train, stopping in front of their compartment. He could feel Hermione take his hand and squeeze it tightly.

Harry began hearing faint screams in the back of his head, his mind becoming foggy. A second identical cloaked figure soon joined the first in front of Harry's compartment. Slowly the door slid open, and the creature drifted in. The screams in Harry's head were getting louder, but he could also see things in his mind's eye.

_Hermione lying in the hospital wing petrified._

_Battling the Basilisk._

_Hermione lying in the hospital wing petrified._

_A flash of green light that sometimes haunted his dreams._

_Hermione still lying in the hospital wing._

_A scream. "Please! Not Harry! Take me instead!" came the frantic voice of a woman._

_"Stand aside you silly girl!" a cold voice answered_.

_A first year Hermione shoving past him and Ron with tears in her eyes…_

Just as his vision began going black, the man who had been sleeping for the entire trip, shot to his feet and shouted "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A bright white light erupted form his wand, and it drove the first dark creature back. Harry acting on instinct, drew his wand. He took aim shakily, and cried in a strained voice "Incendio!"

A bolt of flames shot from the tip of his wand and hit the creature in the face drawing a horrible shrieking yell from the filthy looking thing.

Slumping over in his seat, the last thing Harry heard before darkness claimed him, was Hermione's frantic voice yelling is name. "_HARRY!"_

X x x x x x x x x x

He could feel a soft hand caressing his face.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" he heard Hermione's voice, calling him softly.

When he opened his eyes, he could see the lights in the cabin were back on and the train in motion. He noticed that his head was cradled in Hermione's lap. Blushing bright red, he sat up quickly.

Looking around, he noticed Ron was not with them.

"Where's Ron?" he asked Hermione.

"He…" she hesitated. "When the lights came back on, you were unconscious, so I -"

She looked away as she blushed, then continued. "I cradled your head on my lap, trying to wake you up to make sure you were alright. Ron got angry for some reason and left. That was ten minutes ago."

"What's his problem?" he asked confused.

"I have no idea." she replied.

Jumping suddenly in her seat, she hurriedly turned and picked up what appeared to be a large piece of chocolate wrapped in a napkin.

"Here," she said handing him the sweet. "Professor Lupin said to eat this when you woke up."

Harry stared at her blankly.

"It's okay." she said softly. "It'll make you feel better. Trust me, it works wonders."

Harry had never really been a fan of chocolates, he preferred things like sugar quills and other assorted hard candies.

He did what she asked anyway. Hesitantly, he took a small nibble of the hunk of chocolate. Immediately, he began feeling warmth spreading though his body. Looking up at Hermione with a surprised smile, he took another larger bite. Hermione simply smiled back at him.

"So what was that thing?" he asked, looking fearfully out the compartment window, into the corridor.

"Professor Lupin said they were Dementors." she said, shivering slightly. "They're the guards of Azkaban. Apparently they were searching the train for Sirius Black."

Harry looked at her incredulously.

"That's rather stupid of them!" he said. "What, did they think Black might just be hiding under some one's robes?"

"I know Harry," said Hermione. "It was a foolish thing to do, especially with so many muggle-born first years on board. Imagine, being exposed to those vile creatures as your introduction into the Wizarding world. I wouldn't be surprised if half of them wrote their parents to withdraw them from school."

"Did you see how they were driven off?" he asked her.

"Professor Lupin made some kind of bright white light come out of his wand. Then you somehow managed to pull yourself together long enough to shoot a bolt of fire at it. They both somehow managed to drive them off."

She looked at him admiringly, before she continued, "You shot an Incendio spell at the one in the doorway."

"Where is Professor Lupin?" he asked.

"He said he was going to talk to the driver" Hermione replied. "It shouldn't be long to Hogwarts now."

X x x x x x x x x

Very soon, Harry found himself in the Great Hall after being fussed over by Madam Pomfrey, and Professor McGonagall. He was seated next to Hermione as the sorting finished. Looking down the length of the table, he spotted Ron seated with Dean and Seamus. He would occasionally glance over at Harry and Hermione and scowl.

Shaking his head at Ron's behaviour, he turned away and looked at Hermione, who looked back at him silently before their attention was drawn away from each other and toward the front of the Great Hall where Dumbledore had just stood to make his announcements.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore from behind his golden podium.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Now, I have a few important announcements I'd like to make, before we all become to befuddled, by our excellent feast….."

Harry thought there was something…off about the Headmaster.

He tapped Hermione on the shoulder, "Does Dumbledore look different to you?" he said when she turned to look at him. "I don't know what it is, but he doesn't look quite the same this year."

"I would have thought it was obvious what the difference was Harry," she said quietly.

He stared at her blankly.

"It's obvious he's gone with the fez this year instead of the pointed hat." said Hermione. "It looks like he's also gotten a new wardrobe as well."

"Oh!" said Harry. " You're right he-" his reply was cut off.

"Psst! Pssst!" came a sound from the Slytherin table. "Potter!"

It was Draco Malfoy, from a few seats down.

Looking over at him, Draco continued. "Is it true you fainted? You actually fainted?" he laughed as one of his snaggletooth cronies pretended to faint in a dramatic fashion. Hermione sent Malfoy her most venomous glare to date.

Though he wasn't seated in front of Harry, unfortunately for Draco, he was seated in front of Fred and George.

"This coming from the blond tosspot…" began Fred.

"…Who wet himself while crying for daddy." finished George, as the students within earshot laughed. Draco's face was red with fury.

As he opened his mouth to retort "My-" he was cut off by Harry.

"-Father will hear about this!" Harry completed in a mocking tone. "Honestly Malfoy, you're such a child. Stop suckling on your father's tits already."

Harry turned away as every Gryffindor with in earshot laughed, earning them a hard look from their head of house. Hermione looked as though she wanted to admonish Harry for is crude language, but held her tongue. Once the meal began, Harry and Hermione kept glancing at each other and sharing smiles through out the entire feast.

Unfortunately, a certain red headed boy noticed, and his scowl deepened as he ate. Fred and George noticed the looks Harry and Hermione were sending each other, as well as the dark looks Ron was sending both of them. They looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation before they both nodded in agreement. They were both going to keep an eye on their idiot little brother.

At the feast's conclusion, the student body sang to school's song. Most to their own tune, but none as hilariously as the Weasley Twins, who were singing in a slow mournful funeral dirge as they swayed back and forth, pretending to weep. Harry smiled at their antics while Hermione shook her head in exacerbated amusement.

The pair walked toward Gryffindor Tower side by side. Their shy smiles continued. Harry decided to take a chance and gently took Hermione's hand. It was bold of him, as e had never been the one to initiate any intimate physical contact between them. It had always been Hermione to do so. She smiled at him as she squeezed his hand in return. Scowling at them from a short distance behind, was Ron. Behind him, were two identical twins plotting on ways they could teach their little brother a lesson or two, should he step out of line with Harry and Hermione. They were almost looking forward to it.

X x x x x x x x

X

X

X

X

A/N: There we go. I FINALLY had a bit of inspiration as I had a dream last night through the eyes of a third year Harry Potter and his adventure with Hermione. It took place when the pair was waiting in the Forbidden Forrest after rescuing Buckbeak. The dream spurred me into writing for this story again. Like I said before, This story was the original MER concept and as such, will have many of the same elements. Don't bitch that I took bits from that story and used them in this one. Read and Review and as always…

Live Long and Prosper - Edward

Note #2 Fixed a Knight Bus continuity error. I forgot to replace that section with the other like I had planned. My bad.


End file.
